Whiting: 3-foot cushion is minimum comfort to cyclists

Sept. 30, 2013

Updated Oct. 8, 2013 11:45 a.m.

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With a safety cushion between cyclists and cars, Jonathan Marshall leads a group of cyclists up one of the toughest hills along Santiago Canyon with Hugo Rico directly behind. FILE PHOTO, DAVID WHITING

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Cyclists on Santiago Canyon Road ride single file, making it safer for cars to pass. Drivers must obey the new three-foot law between motor vehicles and bicycles. FILE PHOTO, DAVID WHITING

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A sign along Santiago Canyon Road where teacher Christy Kirkwood was killed reminds drivers to share the road. A new law requires that drivers stay three feet from cyclists. FILE PHOTO, DAVID WHITING

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Pete Van Nuys, founder of the Orange County Bicycle Coalition, teaches and advocates cycling safety. Here, he wears a rear-view mirror on his helmet. FILE PHOTO, DAVID WHITING

With a safety cushion between cyclists and cars, Jonathan Marshall leads a group of cyclists up one of the toughest hills along Santiago Canyon with Hugo Rico directly behind. FILE PHOTO, DAVID WHITING

If you care about human life, you probably shook your head in wonderment the last two years when Gov. Jerry Brown refused to sign into law bills to require drivers to give cyclists three feet of space.

Only three feet. Less than the width of most car doors.

After some 20 states passed such laws, Brown last week finally signed a revised version of the bill.

That means that cyclists and officials now have the real work ahead: Politely informing drivers that steering clear of bicyclists is no longer a vague suggestion. It’s specific law.

But you might not want to mention how much a cyclist’s life is worth.

For drivers who violate the three-feet law, the penalty is a $35 fine. If a driver injures a cyclist, the fine is $220.

In March this year, Eric Billings, of Rancho Santa Margarita, was hit and killed on Santa Margarita Parkway.

“It will be difficult for the family and friends of Mr. Billings to cope with such an incredible loss,” attorney West Seegmiller said. “The thoughts and prayers of our staff are with them as they try to piece together what happened and come to terms with his death.”

Three months later, James Waller, Westminster’s retired police chief and city manager, was struck from behind on Highway 133 near Laguna Canyon Road. His riding partner, Kevin Beach, was seriously injured.

Waller was killed.

GIVE ME 3

“Give Me 3” is the name for the California Bicycle Coalition’s campaign that played a large role in getting the three-feet law approved. Its list of victims of unsafe passing is chilling.

At the top is one of our own.

“September 2012: Cristin Zeisler was injured on the Pacific Coast Highway in Newport Beach when she was hit from behind by a shuttle van that fled the scene.”

There are more locals on the list.

“October 2011: Three days after Gov. Brown vetoed SB 910, Pomona resident Omar Gomez was struck from behind and killed in Chino Hills by an unlicensed driver. In Anaheim, Disneyland employee Margaret Conway was killed after leaving work by a driver who hit her from behind.”

“November 2010: 22-year-old Marco Acuapan of Tustin was rear-ended by a hit-and-run driver. He died six months later without regaining consciousness.”

Yes, our county has a national reputation for being a bicycling mecca. But it also has a statewide reputation for death.

Drivers, cyclists, cities and law enforcement need to work together if we’re going to reduce the body count.

“Give Me 3” explains reasons for the law that are worth sharing: “Bicyclists need a little bit of space around them to get around debris or rough pavement.

“If they need to move to avoid a hazard and a passing driver doesn't give them enough space, a deadly collision can occur.”

But, like me, many believe the new law is only a small step toward reducing a deadly crisis.

LAW’S WEAKNESSES

Ted Rogers has a prominent voice about bicycle safety through his blog, BikingInLA.com. Despite his and other LA bloggers’ professed inability to figure me out because I criticize both drivers and cyclists for dumb behavior, Rogers makes excellent points about weaknesses in the three-feet law.

“The problem is,” Rogers says, “unless a driver actually does make contact with a cyclist, the law is virtually unenforceable.

“The bill includes a provision allowing drivers to pass at less than three feet if they slow down and pass only when it won’t endanger a cyclist’s safety. In other words, the same sort of vague, virtually unenforceable standard we have now.”

Craig Durfey lives in Garden Grove and doesn’t ride a bike. Still, he was inspired to take up cycling safety when a boy was hit by a car in Durfey’s neighborhood. Now retired, Durfey spends his time working with local officials to improve traffic patterns and beef up safety for children riding to school.

Durfey is wary of the three-feet law because of inattentive drivers. Echoing Rogers, he asks, “How are you going to make sure this is enforced?”

But Durfey, being the thoughtful man he is, answers his own question saying that enforcement – as well as safe traffic patterns – must come at the local level.

Yes, it’s up to each one of us to help spread the word: Give cyclists a safety cushion.

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